Ghost Hunting Adventures
by GhostMoonWolf
Summary: Series of short scenes that take place through out various cases SPR takes on involving mainly Mai and Naru. Some are based off pictures drawn by me of the scene that can be viewed at my deviant art account the link to which is in my profile
1. Chapter 1: Just Hanging Out Literally!

"Hey Naru could you come get me?" Mai asks her boss with a sigh. She hated to call him because she knew what he would say when he found her. "Why? Where exactly are you?You said you were going for a walk how can you possibly get into trouble on a walk?"Naru asks her over the phone. "Don't ask I'm in the forest to the west of the building I walked in a pretty straight path so it shouldn't be too hard to find me." She could hear rustling of papers on his end of the line. "Only you can manage to find trouble on a short walk and then demand me to come and rescue you." He comments snidely.

Mai growled at him through her cell. "Well sorry your highness but I can't seem to get myself down and your the only one who I have the number for programmed into my cell. So my options are kind of limited." Naru paused before responding."What do you mean down?Where are you and what have you gotten yourself into this time?" He asks with a sigh at the last part. "Just shut up and come and get me please." She snaps hitting the end button and crossing her arms over her chest with a huff unable to tuck her phone back in her pocket without it falling right back out so she had to hold on to it.

She hoped Naru would hurry up and find her she was beginning to get light headed. "Guess I have to choice but to hang out here until I'm found finally." She mutters to herself snorting at her own joke her fox ears twitching as she listened to every little noise in the forest. She seriously hoped Naru found her before the spirit did. There had been reports of people getting lost or hurt in this forest so the spirit could very well be responsible for those incidents or it could have just been accidents. She hoped it was the latter.

She looked down at the ground with a sigh what she won't give to be back on it again or even up in the sky since at least then she could control where she went and could land if she wanted to. Her ankle hurt and the rope was beginning to cut into her skin. At the very least she was no longer twirling in circles anymore thankfully that hadn't been fun. Her poor sandal lay on the ground the strap broken. She wasn't sure if she could fix it or not she would hate to have to buy a new pair. She reached up adjusting her white washed shorts so they were more comfortable.

Her light blue halter top she had bought recently was a bit on the tight side around her breasts so she didn't have to worry about it exposing her bra. Another thing she was glad for, she had spent the money on a strapless bra that was like a band that went around her chest so unlike her normal bra she didn't have to worry about falling out of it. Her ears perked as she caught the sound of footsteps drawing near and she tensed praying that it was Naru and not the ghost.

She relaxed as she caught his scent finally now she could get down from here. "Naru!I'm over here!" She calls to him. He rounded a tree and stopped to stare at her for a minute. "Do I want to know how you managed to get yourself into this one?"He asks her mildly moving to stand beside her on a rock that slowly rose from the ground crossing his arms and standing there completely relaxed a smirk on his face as he took in the sight of her hanging there upside down by a rope wrapped around her ankle tied to a thick tree branch of the closest tree her broken sandal lying on the ground marking where she had stepped and gotten caught in a trap.

The trap was set off by her stepping into it and she was swung upwards by her ankle her sandal's strap letting go from the force of it and dropping to the ground leaving her tied up with no way of getting down and her only choice to hang out until help arrived. Literally! "Shut it Naru." Mai growls at him angrily crossing her arms again glaring at him with her blue eyes. "I didn't say anything." He comments still smirking at the sight of her strung up like that. "You don't have to your face says it all now hurry up and get me down already my ankle is killing me." She growls.

"Alright alright give me a minute." Naru pulls out a pocket knife and reaches up grabbing the rope that held her and began to saw at it with the knife. "Why didn't you just use your claws or your fangs to get yourself down?" He asks as he sawed away at the rope. "I tried but it was a lot harder to do that in this position then I thought it would be I couldn't get myself free that's why I called you." She says with a sigh rubbing her human ears her fox ones still out as well. Having to sets of ears seemed confusing but one set processed human sounds such as speech and the other set processed other kinds of sounds and tended to pick up on danger better then her human ears.

She gave a sudden yelp as the rope finally let go sending her crashing to the ground with a heavy thud. She groaned rubbing her head now as she tried to register that she was no longer hanging upside down in the air but now back on solid ground. Naru knelt beside her pulling the rope away from her ankle before helping her to sit up."You okay?"He asks actually sounding somewhat concerned. "Yeah I'm just waiting for the world to stop spinning." She comments slowly sitting up right shaking her head as the spinning finally stopped.

"Thanks by the way. For getting me down." She says giving him a grateful smile and then a quick kiss on the cheek in thanks. He seemed to shrug off her thanks and her kiss just commenting in return. "Come on let's get back to the base shall we?"He says turning away from her but she couldn't help but smile at seeing the red tips of his ears peeking out from his dark hair. Climbing to her feet she snatched up her broken sandal removing her other one so she had bare feet.

"Alright. Let's go."She grabbed his hand as they walked back out of the forest giving a soft giggle at the sight of his red ears. Even if she never lived this down she was glad she had gotten stuck like that it gave her a chance to see this rather cute side of Naru. "So find out anything interesting while I was hanging out in that tree?" She asks with a grin. "As a matter of fact yes I did." He says regaining his composure and launching into a description of the history of the building they were investigating laving Mai to listen with a smile as they walked hand in hand back to the base.


	2. Chapter 2: Gene's Little Prank

Mai laid there her sleeping bag open under her instead of zipped completely up like everyone else's was. It was freezing out outside a cold spell had swept in which resulted in the heat being turned all the way up making it nice and toasty warm inside the old building with surprisingly good insulation. The case they were working on was only just getting started it was their first night there and they had a lot to do in the morning but she just could not sleep.

Things being moved around during the night didn't help but that was the ghosts' doing having used to be a day care long ago a earthquake resulted in the children who had been being taken care of getting trapped in the partially collapsed building. While sad the children were for some reason still stuck within the renovated building and it was up to SPR to find out why and free them so they could move on and the new owners of the house could open their shop without worry of items being moved about when they weren't looking or other little pranks children tended to pull.

But in the mean time Mai got to lie there and bake because unlike her everyone else didn't have the tolerance to cold she did that came with her powers. After tossing and turning for a while longer and disturbing Ayako more then once who lay huddled up in her own sleeping bag beside her, Mai got to her feet snagging her sleeping bag and the little travel pillow that went with it she pulled on her coat and marched outside with bare feet sighing in relief at the feel of the cool wet snow beneath her feet digging her toes into it.

Tossing her sleeping bag down on the first deep snow drift she could find she threw her pillow on top of it. Collapsing onto her make shift bed she sighed in relief as the chilly cool winter night air brushed against her hot fevered skin. She snuggled down enjoying the feeling of the soft powdery snow beneath her sleeping bag that made a nice soft place for her to sleep. She smiled to herself thinking the other's didn't know what they were missing not having her powers of ice and snow which made this comfortable instead of sleeping inside in the hot stuffy creaky house filled with ghost children who loved to pull pranks.

Even Gene who had appeared beside her sitting on the edge of her sleeping bag commented on her rather unique sleeping spot. "I know you have magic with this element but I still can't see how this is comfortable for you. You fell asleep so fast out here compared to inside. "He says running his hand through the snow. Mai gave him a smile snuggling into her bed. "I like it. To me this is like coming home. I don't see how Naru and the others can stand it inside."

Gene just gave a soft laugh. "That's my brother for you no matter how uncomfortable he is he won't complain about it if it means he can appear to be calm and cool." "I could make him really cool all ti would take is a bit of snow in his sleeping bag." She jokes with a grin. "Somehow I doubt he would appreciate you for that." Gene laughs.

"I'm really tired and I have a long day tomorrow so mind showing me what's up with the house and why the kids won't move on so I can sleep?Not to be ungrateful or anything like that."Mai asks with a yawn despite already being asleep technically. Gene simply gave her one of his usual smiles and pointed to the house. "Look at each each directional corner." Mai sat up peering more closely at the house in each corner facing all four directions were charms engraved into the very bones of the house.

"Those are meant to keep bad spirits and bad luck out but they are actually combined with confining wards so while it keeps bad spirits out it traps others inside." Gene explains to her. "Nice I take it whoever created them wasn't much into the whole studying aspect." Mai comments with another yawn. "So if we take care of those the children can be sent on?" Gene nods giving Mai a light playful shove. "Yes go to sleep now you can't stop yawning even in your own dream. " Mai giggled and curled back up on her sleeping bag settling down once more. Gene stayed where he was sitting beside her on the edge of her sleeping bag even as she drifted off into a deeper dreamless sleep a sly smile on his face as he watched her.

The next morning Monk was one of the first up yawning as he grumbled to himself about children who thought it was a great idea to tug on his hair during the night and lay other pranks. The coffee and tea had gotten left in the van last night meaning he had to put on his hat, coat and shoes and go get it if he wanted to be alert for the rest of the morning.

He passed by the girls room pausing with a frown when he saw the lumps that were Masako and Ayako but no Mai in between them. "Huh is she already up?But she isn't known to be one to be a morning person."He mutters to himself as he heads out the door marching through the snow towards the van. Hunting up the coffee and grabbing the tea while he was at it so he wouldn't have to listen to Naru later he paused as he spotted something dark in a snow drift.

He stared in wonder as he realized that it was Mai. She was curled up sound asleep on her sleeping bag in the middle of the snow seemingly perfectly content as comfortable out here in the cold bitter air as he was inside the nice toasty warm house. Shaking his head he made his way back inside and started brewing some coffee. Naru and Lin came into the kitchen as the coffee just finished brewing followed shortly by a still bleary eyed Masako.

"You won't believe where Mai choose to sleep last night. I went to get the coffee out of the van and I spotted her lying there asleep on her sleeping bag in the middle of a frickin snowdrift. I mean it got down below freezing last night and instead of staying inside where it's nice and warm she chooses to sleep out in the wet and cold snow.I mean, what the heck, man!"He says shaking his head in disbelief pouring himself a cup of coffee and sipping it.

"You expect anything less from her?With her magic she is at home in the snow I imagine she was too hot trying to sleep inside with the heat up as high as it is. She is probably more comfortable out there then she is in here." Naru comments fixing himself some tea. "Speak of the devil."Ayako mutters darkly dragging herself into the kitchen as well just as Mai bounced perkily into the house her sleeping bag tossed over her shoulder.

John came into the kitchen right behind her taking a seat at the table. Mai stopped guzzling the orange juice she had pulled out of the fridge whens he noticed all eyes were on her. "What?" She asks confused. Masako wordlessly handed her a pocket mirror covering her mouth with her kimono sleeve to hide the smile she had on her face.

Mai let out a shriek upon looking in the mirror. "Gene!You are so dead when I get my hands on you!" She yells as she took in her frost covered hair. The tips of her brown hair had already been dyed white with pale blue above that but now her entire head and her eyelashes and eye brows were completely white painstakingly covered inch by inch in heavy frost her skin dusted in it as well. Simply sleeping outside in the snow didn't cause this she knew since she had done that before without that happening this was the result of a certain spirit bound to her who had apparently gotten bored during the night and decided to play a prank on her himself.

Just about everyone was laughing at the sight of her. "Technically Gene is already dead so you can't kill him." Ayako points out trying to contain her laughter. Naru just shook his head with a slight smile at what his brother had done. "Did you learn anything of use from him before he got bored and gave you a new look?"He asks a fuming Mai. Blinking Mai shook her head to clear the thoughts of what she would do to Gene the next time she saw him. "Yeah I did.I found out why the children are stuck in the house." She launched into the explanation of what she had seen in her dream last night. Her plan on asking her friend Zanna who had magic with spirits for some help with her plan for revenge on a certain male spirit still lingering in the back of her mind as the day got underway along with the case.


	3. Chapter 3: SPR vs Sailor Scouts

"Well this is interesting that's for sure and definitely going to prove to be quite the experience." Ayako comments peering around the main hall of the building that the anime convention was taking place in. SPR had been called in to take care of a series of incidents that had taken place in the building which was rented out every week for something different this week it was a annual anime convention which was part of the cover story for them being there.

They were to give a lecture on Ghost Hunting during a panel on supernatural themes on Saturday the busiest day of the con. The organizers of the con didn't want con goers to know about the problems going on so they incorporated ghosts into the theme for the con and hired SPR to investigate since Naru had a dislike for publicity and being flashy it suited them perfectly.

"So let me get this straight while setting up in advance for this event con staff reported that banners and various other props that had just finished being thoroughly secured into place would mysteriously come undone and fall injuring several people in the mean time and seeing as how that keeps happening even when no one is around they have asked us to come and check it out and put a stop to it before any of the hundreds of people who come to this event every year get hurt and thus not wanting to come back there in for hurting the convention itself and the buildings reputation." Monk says eyeing a group of cos-players dressed in some kind of armor from some warrior anime or something.

"Mai is going to be so sorry she missed this. Do you know why she canceled on us anyways?" He asks turning to Naru who stood leaning against a column surveying everything around him arms crossed. "All I know is that when I called her she said she wouldn't be able to make it she had something planned that she couldn't get out of. It's her loss she doesn't work she doesn't get paid." He says uncrossing his arms and grabbing some of equipment off the floor.

"The room we can use for our base is at the other end of this hall its behind some dividers that hide the emergency stairs and elevators." He says calmly making his way through the crowd. The others all grabbed various equipment and proceeded to follow him. After depositing the first load in the base room they fought there way back through the crowds to gather more and make another trip back through the throngs of people to the base again.

"You know this would be easier if someone had parked closer to the base such as right outside the exit right next to the base?"Ayako grumbles shooting pointed looks at Lin and Monk who had done the driving. "We had no idea where the base would be located; there are three floors to this convention center after all and lots of rooms on each level it could have been anywhere."John points out trying to prevent an eruption from the miko's temper.

They were just passing what was the Dealers Room where different people rented booths to sell various things such as licensed products of various anime and some products they made themselves when a sudden cheer went up from a small but growing crowd. "Well something sure seems popular over there." Yasuhara comments pausing to try and peer over the heads of people. He had been called in as a substitute for Mai and would be taking over her duties during the case.

"It's probably a bunch of cos-players from some popular anime or something." Ayako says with a snort beginning to move on when the crowd parted enough for everyone to get a look in to see the three female cos-players standing or rather posing in the center. "Sailor Scouts can I take your picture?" Someone could be heard shouting while another piped up at the same time, "Sailor Saturn can you stand a little further forward between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune?"

Each girl had a prop weapon in their hands or in one's case a mirror. "Ohh it's three of the Sailor Scouts from that popular anime Sailor Moon it's one of the most popular things to cos-play so we are bound to see plenty of people cos-playing characters from it running around this weekend. " Yasuhara points out brightly with a smile. Monk and Ayako just stared at him. "How do you know this?" Monk asks him.

"It's super popular and very main stream so your bound to run across it sometime. Also several girls in my class were talking about it just the other day apparently a new deluxe edition of the series just came out on DVD that comes with a free pendant when you purchase it. They were quite loud and were rather enthusiastic about it as well." He explains hurrying to catch up with Naru who had lost any interest in what was going on that he might have had since he had stopped as well to look.

Masako sat patiently in the base enjoying some little sandwiches and tea that had been produced. "Hey don't just sit there why not try helping us out for once?"Ayako snaps at the medium who politely choose to ignore her. A dark look from Naru had them scurrying to set up the shelves and get the monitors and everything set up on them.

They had just about finished getting everything set up when one of the three Sailor Scouts from earlier burst in the room with a cry. "Naru!"She cries happily giving him a hug a bright beaming smile on her face. A smile that was very familiar along with her voice. "Mai?!" Everyone shouts at once as she pulled away still grinning from ear to ear. "Uh huh." She answers as her two friends enter the room as well making it so all three scouts from earlier were present.

"What are you doing here and what on earth are you wearing?" Ayako asks looking her over from her knee high high heeled midnight blue violet boots to her purple black dyed and straightened hair. "It's my Sailor Saturn cos-play I special ordered it over the internet along with my Silence Glaive weapon ." She explains giving a small twirl. "What do you think?"

"I'll give you this it definitely looks good on you that's for sure." Monk comments with a whistle earning a smack and a glare from Ayako. "Don't be such a perv you are far too old for her." "You look great Mai and so do you two; you all look really great." John says complementing all three girls who beamed at him happily.

"I take it this is why you were unavailable to come when I called you?" Naru asks her leaning on the table completely ignoring the conversation about her costume. "Yeah we were already on our way here when you called me. We've been planning this for months and we already had a hotel room booked in advance and our bags were all packed cos-play costumes had been ordered a while ago and everything we put to much work into this for this weekend so I couldn't work the new case. That's why I declined besides I've been saving my paychecks just for this." Mai explains resting her weapon on the floor lightly.

"It's your free time and paycheck your wasting on this so its none of my business what you wish to do instead of working." He says moving to examine a folder that contained the blue prints for the building. "Well he's just the same as always." Sailor Uranus comments peering at him. "You seem familiar." Monk says scratching his head as he looked her over.

"We've met before I'm Maharu remember?"She says with a smile. "Oh yeah Mai's friend and roommate. That means this other one has to be Aghea right?" He says turning to the third girl Sailor Neptune who nodded. "So all three foxes are here what about the others?" Ayako asks taking a seat at the table. "They are here to you may see some of them later." Mai answers taking a seat as well.

"So you three are here cos-playing as three of the Sailor Scouts from Sailor Moon?" Yasuhara asks as everyone else took a seat as well. "Yeah we went for ones that had similar hair styles to us so we wouldn't have to order wigs. We simply dyed our hair is all which is easier in soem ways since it will eventually wash out." Mai explains gesturing to her hair.

"We kind of wanted someone else from our group to cos-play as Sailor Pluto so there would be all of the Outer Sailor Scouts but no one wanted to we hope to meet someone cos-playing as them during the con but so far no luck. We have the cos-play costume with us packed in the hotel room if one of the others changes there minds." Maharu says with a disappointed sigh.

"I could cos-play as that character for you guys if you want me to that way your little group would be complete. I could totally pull it off don't you think?" Ayako says boosting. "No way your way to old for that you would scare to many people and there is no way you would fit in the costume." Monk says waving away her offer. Ayako gave a indignant shriek starting in with Monk again as per usual with them.

"Monk is right she is too old for the cos-play and there is no way she would fit in the costume we ordered it in our size and the only one here who could possibly fit into it is Masako." Mai says shaking her head tuning out Monk and Ayako. She blinked suddenly and her and her two friends turned towards Masako who paled. All three girls grinned evilly at each other and grabbed the medium against her weak protests and dragged her out of the room.

"If your done arguing why not go set up the cameras and microphones unless you feel like wasting more of our time with your useless chatter." Naru snaps at them sending them scurrying to do as he said. He gave a irritated sigh knowing this was going to prove to be a long weekend. He was proven right a while later as the girls returned with a now similarly outfitted Masako who kept tugging at the short skirt of the costume in an attempt to make it cover more.

They had somehow lengthened her hair and dyed it a dark green and given her a key like staff she also know had colored contacts in like the rest of the girls. "This is so embarrassing." The medium murmurs blushing. "You look great and now we have our fourth member. Come on lets go check out the rest of the con the showing of the Sailor Moon Crystal anime is going to be taking place in a hour upstairs." Mai yips happily.

They started to leave but paused turning to him. Before he could stop them all four struck a pose around him and snapped a picture on Mai's cell before racing off laughing half dragging Masako along with them. "Best con ever!" Monk announces upon returning with a big grin on his face having somewhere along the line picked up a floppy dog eared headband and a body pillow with a mostly naked girl on it.

John and Yasuhara filed in after him each wearing what appeared to be Pokemon hoodies. Ayako was the last to arrive announcing as she did, "Well someone is getting banned from this con all they are wearing is a trench coat and nothing else and they just flashed a bunch of people in the Artist Ally. Last I saw him he was being chased by a bunch of the con staff. " Naru groaned putting his head in his hands a pounding headache growing behind his eyes. This was indeed going to be a very long weekend.


	4. Chapter 4: A Haunting We Will Go

"Remind me again why we are here?"Monk asks for the fifth time as they stood in front of a good size luxury RV watching as Mai and her two friends Maharu and Aghea attempted to put up a tent with out the help of magic. "Mai's school rents out this camp ground every year for summer training camp to keep the students of the school occupied for two weeks out of the summer and prevent them from going crazy with their magic by being able to be themselves without fear of being discovered." Naru explains also for the fifth time obviously getting very impatient. "Yeah but why are we here again?" Monk asks scratching his head as he watched as the girls struggled to pull the tent ropes tight enough to nail the stakes into the ground in order to keep their tent from collapsing. "There is a cave down river in a small cove that they use for tests of courage. Earlier this summer they had a group of teens from the area decide to camp out here and go exploring in the cave only to turn up missing a few days later. They had bragged on social media as to where they were going and one posted on the night its believed they went missing that they saw something they couldn't explain in the cave. A cell phone was recovered during the search and a video shot on it showed some strange happenings that point toward there being a spirit here. The boys haven't turned up yet and the school worries that something similar might happen to one or more of the students during the test of courage. So we were asked to investigate. " He answers with a frustrated sigh watching as the girls piled in the tent having finally gotten it up successfully only to have one of the boys from their group of friends sneak up and steal a tent stake causing the tent to collapse in on them. Shrieks ensued along with curses as the male made off laughing his head off with the tent stake. "What happened? Did the tent get hungry and eat the girls?" Ayako asks returning with a pile of fire wood along with John following behind her with a bunch of rocks to make a fire pit with. "More like one of the guys decided to borrow a tent stake with out asking." Monk responds with a laugh watching as the three females struggled to find their way out of the tent. "Well aren't they sweet I hope they don't mind facing the wrath of a fire girl, a ice girl, and a lightning girl." She remarks with a snicker. "Why can't the school just cancel the test of courage?" Monk asks getting back on topic. "Because the students are all looking forward to it and the teachers suspect that if it was canceled some of the students would just go do it on their own anyways. They would rather hold the test of courage and be able to supervise what happens during it then have a bunch of teens wander off into the woods and down river in the dark to go explore a cave and end up hurt, lost or worse." Lin says in response climbing out of the RV. "Everything is all set up in the cave nothing out of the ordinary is being picked up so far." Lin tells Naru handing him some papers to look at most likely about the history of the cave what was known at least. A pained yelp drew their attention back to the girls who had the male on the ground and were beating him up even as a teacher came running to break them up. "At least they were nice enough to give us this RV to use during this case." John remarks looking over at the RV which had been parked along the border between where the females were camping and where the males were camping. "The school doesn't trust anyone else to handle this and they would like it resolved quickly and efficiently by professionals who know what they are doing. They consider us to be exactly that. They hate bringing in outsiders and since we have already been involved with them before they feel students may be comfortable with us. They are trying to make this as easy and comfortable for us as possible since this is a very basic camp ground and everyone usually sleeps in tents." Naru offers up as an explanation of sorts towards why they had the only thing with electricity in the whole camp ground. Although there was basic needs such as a wash station and a bath house including toilets, showers as well as actual baths thanks to some natural hot springs under the ground, most of the camp ground made due with out electricity even though there was actual electricity for it the camp had been designed so that there was only one place to plug into it and that's where the RV was parked. Mai came trudging up to them a few scratches on her bare arms. She had a light blue bandanna on over her hair pulling it back away from her face and up off her neck, a white pair of shorts and a smokey gray top that wrapped around her chest but left her shoulders and mid riff exposed. She didn't have shoes or anything on her feet but rather walked around bare footed. "Why do they have to steal one of our stakes when its their own fault for not counting out their supplies before hand?" She complains grouchily. "Because they are men, Mai." Ayako informs her dropping the pile of wood beside the hole dug for the fire pit. "That is very descriptive and informative." Masako comments sarcastically as she stood in the open door of the RV. Mai crossed her arms over her chest with a huff her white fox ears poking out from under her bandanna her tail flickering angrily around her legs. A call went through the camp calling all students to one side of the camp where everyone was gathering. Mai waved good bye as she turned and dashed across the camp ground making quick work of the distance.

Later that night after the sun had set the group from SPR sat outside the RV with Mai perched on the step leading into the RV. A good size fire was going over near the tents and Mai's friends where gathered around roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. "Hey Mai how do you want your marshmallow toasted?" Maharu shouts to her from where she was setting up to make smores. "Smoked and then light on fire so it's nice and gooey." She shouts back happily her tail wagging slightly from where she had it wrapped around her side. "Smoked?" Mai nodded grinning so you could see her sharp pointed canines. "Smoking it by slowly turning it over the flames gives it a nice smokey flavor to it and then lighting it on fire and letting it burn itself out makes it so it's completely gooey on the inside." She explains earning her some strange looks from the rest."Why don't you just go roast it yourself then?" John asks her curiously as he ate his soup. "Are you kidding me?I'm not going anywhere near that fire not when they are several fire magic users near it. I don't feel like getting burned thank you very much."She retorts giving him a disbelieving look. While SPR had brought their own food the school had apparently decided to just go with the simplest of foods that the students could cook themselves without turning it into a huge disaster which meant hot dogs smores and various other things they could roast on a stick which for some reason included a box of cheerios someone had brought. Maharu brought two cooked smores over along with four hot dogs and some roasted cheerios and a few other things like bacon, crescents or rather crescent dough wrapped around a stick, a grilled cheese sandwich and an egg. How they managed the egg Naru had yet to figure out but he believed it had a lot of trail and error involved. "Okay that's just sad your dinner consists of foods that were roasted on a stick and how on earth did they manage to cook an egg on a stick?" Ayako asks poking at Mai's plate of food. An loud popping noise cut off any reply Mai would have made drawing attention to the fact that the fire was now two times bigger and from the looks of the food being cooked around it just as hot if not hotter as it looked. "And that is why I choose to sit away from the fire. I'm afraid I'd melt if I got close to that thing." Mai comments staring at the growing column of flames as students tried to salvage any food left too close to the fire while those with fire power tried to get it under control.

A loud thudding and scrambling sound coming from the roof of the RV was what woke Naru early the next morning. Shouts and laughter could be heard outside. drawing back the curtain to see what was going on that required so much noise so early in the morning proved to be a mistake when he saw what greeted him. Apparently someone had started a great game of water balloon fight and students were racing all over camp with their arms full of balloons filled to the brim with water and were chucking them at each other. One hit the window earning a scowl from him as he peered through the water smeared window trying to see what was making the noise on the roof. A white bushy tail and a glimpse of brown hair provided him with the answer that and Aghea shouting out a warning to the girl who had taken shelter using the advantage point the roof provided her with. A flurry of balloons smashed into the RV waking the others just as a return of fire came arching across from the roof. "What the?" Monk mutters moving to pull the curtain around the drivers seat back to see out the front windshield. "A water balloon war?That's what all that noise is about?God can't they do this later like say when the sun is all the way up?" He grumbles. "Apparently not and we don't get much choice in the matter seeing as how we are guests here." Naru says watching as Mai scrambled down from the top of the RV down the front tossing the last of her ammunition as she did making a break for the water spigot to refuel. With Mai off the RV now the firing was drawn away from them giving some resemblance of peace at least it was a bit quieter now that they had moved away. "Good can we go back to sleep now?" Ayako complains rolling over on the over head bunk to do just that. "We can try though how much sleep we will get is unknown now that they know about using the roof to take shelter." John comments with a yawn his legs hanging off the edge of the table that converted into a bed. As if in answer to prove what John said true the sounds of someone climbing the back ladder to get onto the roof sounded and the fire of water balloons returned once more. "That would be a no." Masako says sleepily.

"Which way to the river?" Mai asks one of her friends as they walked through the camp. "No idea I can't see a thing." "Me either." Both responded as they tried not to trip unable to see where they were walking with the canoe on their heads and shoulders. "This can not end well."Ayako murmurs watching her arms crossed a slight smile on her face as she watched the three girls wonder around camp blindly trying to find the river. Naru opened a window to peer out when a thump of something hitting the side of the RV sounded. He was greeted by the spectacle before him of the three girls or rather everything below their shoulders where a canoe rested. "Ow what we hit?" "No idea can't see remember?" "Try turning to the right maybe we can go around it." A turn to the right ended with them hitting the RV again as all they did was move a few steps further down. A third attempt at moving past the RV had Lin reaching out the drivers side window to gently shove the girls away far enough from the RV to avoid taking out the side mirror. A squeal went up as the one in front tripped over a root as they made their way down the hill towards the river finally moving in the right direction. The first one tried to regain her balance only to have the other two crash into her from behind all of them tripping and falling forward. The canoe flipped over taking them with it and the three sprawled inside the canoe were sent sliding down the smooth hillside towards the water. A splash announced they had arrived at their destination at last. "Well we found the river." "Yeah the hard way." "Okay where are our paddles?" "You had them." "No you did." "Alright who has the paddles we can't go no where without them." "Don't know but we're going somewhere." The short argument ended when they realized that the current had caught them and was carrying them down stream now. "Give Monk and John a call and warn them that the girls are on there way down river without a paddle." Naru tells Lin watching as the shrieking girls attempted to use their hands as paddles. Lin nods giving a slight smile of his own at the sight of the three frantic females who appeared to have forgotten they had wings. A call was made to the two who were going through the cave by foot with a camera investigating every inch of it informing them of the situation the girls had gotten themselves into.

"Okay that's it next person who thinks its funny to slip someone a crude love potion is going to die." Mai growls tying her top around her bare breasts it having come off during the struggle. Using her bandanna to cover the hickey marks on her neck. "Your going to unfreeze him right?" Gene asks poking at the ice statue that was his brother. "Yeah just as soon as the spell wears off which shouldn't be long considering how crude the spell in the potion was. Love potions are so stupid they don't even work they just put someone in a haze that makes them unaware of what they are doing and has them go after the first person they see." She growls and grumbles fixing her shorts her face hot with embarrassment as well as from what had just transpired. _Mai was laying curled up taking a nap in the RV enjoying the cool air from the AC on her heated skin. She stirred when Naru entered the RV with a bottle of soda in hand. "Have you had any of your dreams?" He asks taking a sip from the bottle. She shook her head uncurling herself and stretching out. " "No thanks for letting me use your bed to take a nap. I needed that it's just too hot out there for me." She murmurs softly her eyes half closed as she gazed at him with her light blue irises. She just couldn't understand how Naru could remain unflappable in this heat while wearing so much black. She made this soft sound in the back of her throat without realizing it as Naru took another long sip from his soda draining it. She closed her eyes stretching out arching her back up off the bed making the same soft kind of sexy sound again. She felt the bed shift as Naru sat down beside her. Opening her eyes startled she gasped as he leaned forward and captured her lips with his own in a kiss. She was too startled to do anything at first but when he moved his mouth to her neck and began to suck and nibble there she began to fight him unsure what was going on but she just didn't believe that this is something that the normal Naru would do." Naru what are you doing?Stop this isn't like you." She whimpered despite actually enjoying it kind of. "I thought you liked me." He murmurs caressing her shoulder. "I do but this so rather sudden don't you think? You never said you liked me in return or anything and then you suddenly do this?" She gave a small moan as he brushed his hand across the swell of one breast. "No... Naru stop it stop this I'm not ready for this and we really need to talk." She says fighting harder now to resist what he was doing to her and to fight him pushing him back. "What's with you this really isn't like you at all please just stop it." She pleaded with him really struggling with him not wanting to use her talons out of fear of seriously hurting him. Her finger tips hit something as she struggled. Turning her head she spotted the soda bottle Naru had been drinking from. Frowning Mai reached for it a suspicion forming in her had never seen Naru drink this brand of soda before and she hadn't seen any in the fridge while she was getting a bottle of water. But she had seen plenty of them over in the boy's side of the camp several had brought them with them on this trip. Stretching her fingers she hooked the bottle with her talons and brought it up to her face shoving Naru's head away from her rather roughly. She sniffed the bottle curiously a snarl rising in her throat as she caught the faint scent of several herbs that didn't belong in soda as well as traces of magic in it. "A spell or a potion. Naru that's what's making you act this way you have to stop this isn't your doing!" She begged turning her attention back to him. "I don't care. I want you Mai." He murmurs huskily as he tried to kiss her again. She snarled again baring her teeth at him looking rather fierce and intimidating like a wild animal. "Okay that's it you've asked for it now!" Shoving him off the bed and onto the floor hard with both hands she released all her magic onto him freezing him completely solid. "Mai?Are you okay?" Gene asks appearing at the foot of the bed along side the spirit of her key who guarded the powers of the guardian. "Yeah I am now." She answers panting as she sat up letting out a shriek as she realized she was half naked from the waist up now. Gene blushed turning away as she covered herself with her arms. "This camp seems to be turning out to be quite the adventure wouldn't you say?" The spirit asks resting his front paws on the edge of the bed to nudge her top to her with his muzzle. "I'll say." She mutters darkly under her breath._

"I don't believe it." Monk mutters standing there arms crossed staring at the creature that was mirroring his very posture and stance. John came over having finished his purification in a separate section of the cave. "I thought you were just trying to cleanse the spirit from this place not summon it." John says looking the being over curiously. "I was but he just showed up muttering about something instead of leaving like he was supposed to." "Wow you guys are pathetic you can't even get rid of one lousy spirit?"Ayako asks turning the corner fully clothed in her miko clothing having been doing her own thing in yet another corridor of the cave. "Oh shut it he just showed up on his own without warning. I don't know why he didn't do as he was supposed to." Monk growls at her While Lin approached taking readings at Naru's command documenting the being who watched them all with a scowl on his face and disinterest in his dark eyes. Giggles and laughter drew their attention to the trio of girls all of whom for some reason had transformed themselves into their true forms and were playing with their magic placing small obstacles in their path and jumping over them. "You weren't supposed to start the test of courage until we cleared everything and reported back." Naru snaps at the three who had been nothing but nuisances all day long after someone got the brilliant idea to give them a drink that acted like a strange combination liquor, a drug and and energy drink resulting in them being hyper and tipsy in a dazed state the affects were supposed to wear off soon. At least Naru hopped they did he was growing rather tired of not only dealing with Mai in this state but her two friends as well. "We grew bored." One yips with a drunken giggle noise. "Ohhh he mad now." One of the others whispers or rather attempts to whisper. "When is he not mad. It's Naru." Mai answers wisely. "You three need to get out of here while we deal with this spirit it could be dangerous and you three are in no condition to defend yourselves. "Lin explains to them trying to shoo them away.

"Guardians." The being says staring at the three girls. All attention was turned to him when he spoke. "You three are Guardians. Light Guardians." The being spoke again a pair of dark demonic looking wings spread from his back. It was most definitely a male they appeared almost human looking other then being draped in dark clothing and a dark mist that seemed to surround them making them appear hazy as he seemed to fade in and out. Monk took a hesitant step back but was stopped from retreating further when Mai blinked her glazed eyes clearing for the first time all day. "A Guardian." She murmurs blinking again as the affects of the drink she had that morning seemed to wear off suddenly. "A dark guardian. I haven't met any dark guardians other then Raven." She says approaching the being with a polite bow which was returned. "I am Diaval the Dark Guardian of The Borderland. The place you like to transverse often Light Guardian of Ice and Snow. You and that friend of yours who is bond to you. The one who looks like that stick in the mud over there." He says in a dark whispery tone jerking his head towards Naru who scowled at him. "You mean the Astral Plane? I didn't know that there was a Guardian in charge of it." Mai says tilting her head to examine the being who was giving her the same treatment.

"You wouldn't happen to be the one who was caught on film by a bunch of teenagers would you?" Monk asks having calmed down upon knowing that this being was a Guardian like Mai. "Me? No that was one of my many familiars wandering spirits who have been lost for some time. Those boys as you call them are pathetic idiots who tried to summon me with an Ouija Board they nearly got another being instead one they really wouldn't have liked had I not intervened." He hisses snake like scales appearing on his skin in patches. "What did you do with them?" Naru demands arms crossed staring down the being who met his glare calmly if not somewhat annoyed. "I left them wandering the Borderlands for a bit." He answers with a dark chuckle. "I planned to return them to this world at a later date." "It has been nearly a week." Naru growls frustrated with the being. "Time flows differently for Guardians,Naru and it flows differently in the Astral Plane which is why staying there for long isn't a good idea it can warp your sense of time and judgement." Mai explains giving the dark being apologetic look. "I shall return them if the Guardians so wishes, I have grown bored with them anyways. I like this place it has history I am here often but that seems to attract idiots like those brats and you. Other then the Guardians of course who are exempt from that statement." He mutters with hiss towards Naru and the rest of the gang but giving a courtly bow to Mai and the other two Guardians who also seemed to have come to there senses. "Please just return them our school would like to hold a Test of Courage here later if that is alright and they would like to know it is safe to do so which means the boys must be returned safe and unharmed." Mai pleaded with him earning a sigh from the being. "Very well I shall return them if that will satisfy you I have no wish to go against the treaty formed between our sides." He answers dropping the three boys on the floor with a wave of his hand. They were rather rough looking and beaten up but alive. "I think I may be around for this test of yours it sounds most interesting and it will give my pets something to do." Diaval whispers with a creepy smile vanishing like he had never been there to begin with.

"Whelp he was creepy as hell but at least the boys are back safe and sound ... ish" Monk comments bending down to check one of the unconscious boys over. "He was a pain and a hindrance in our investigation tha'ts what he was." Naru growls glaring at the spot Diaval had been. "He's a dark Guardian what do you want? At the very least he was one of the nicer ones others would have tortured the boys and never returned them. I really hate running into those kinds they are really mean. The last time I ran into one they tried to tear out my wings because I got in the way of their meal." Mai mutters as she and her friends began work on removing any lingering traces of dark magic on the boys. Naru stared at her a moment remembering rather vividly the sight of finding her in the office severely wounded one wing nearly torn completely out of her back there had been so much blood everywhere it was one the few moments she had terrified him he thought for sure he was going to lose her. If Diaval was a nicer kind of Dark Guardian then Naru didn't ever want to meet one of the other kinds who would and could do so much damage to a Light Guardian. Clean up was finished and the boys were returned home or rather dropped off at the edge of society and had water dumped on them to wake them up before being sent on their way. Naru returned to the RV to rest now that the case had been wrapped up and the school was busy holding their Test of Courage. There on the bed lay something that hadn't been there before. One single blood stained blue trimmed white feather and a cryptic note.

 **_"Make sure your little Guardian doesn't get into anymore trouble_**

 ** _not all Dark beings are as benevolent as me."_**

 ** _~ Diaval_**


	5. Chapter 5: Once in a Blue Moon

"Block the doors make sure that it can't get in. Set up wards around it to keep it out. We need to buy some time to figure out what to do next. "Naru orders out of breath from running all the way into the swimming pool room the only place the creature that was stalking this old hotel ski resort avoided. It didn't like water they had discovered after John had thrown some Holy Water on it and it had not only been burned but it yelped and ran away. The amount of water used shouldn't have had that much of a affect on it but later on when Monk had tossed a bottle of water on it when it tried to attack once more it had done the same thing. A mapping down up of all the places the creature appeared showed that the one room it avoided was the glass conservatory that housed the indoor pool. So that was where they had all ended up seeking shelter in.

Having been called in to rid this old resort of the spirit of the first owners wife who had committed suicide by throwing herself off the top floor balcony believed to be responsible for the incidents that had happened here they discovered that it wasn't her who had shut the place done all those years ago by haunting the place until no one dared come for fear of going missing like many before who had stepped foot inside. It was another being a dark being who had been gathering strength and power by feeding off not only the energy of those who came here but the people themselves stealing them out of their rooms at night and dragging them back into their lair in the old boiler room deep in the old basement. Renovations had been made to the building after it was built and a new basement was added on top of the old one closing it off to the outside except for an old coal chute. The women had in fact appeared as rumored to before someone would go missing not to drag any of them off but to warn them. She unfortunately didn't have the energy to appear for long or say much all most guests had managed to hear before she faded away was _"Get Out."_ , leading to the belief that she was the one behind it all.

It hadn't taken long for them to figure out that it wasn't her who was behind it. Masako had said that while she was in fact here she didn't feel as if she was behind everything but rather a darker presence that lurk in the old resort. It wasn't long before the creature became active again with people once again inside the hotel it started up its hunt right away targeting Mai first. If it hadn't been for Monk bursting in and saving her she would have been gone.

That was what was still puzzling him even now. Mai hadn't felt the being's presence at all or if she did she didn't say anything about it. She also hadn't even tried to defend herself at all when the being attacked her. She hadn't even tried using the nine cuts she had been taught. Yasuhara who had been called in to pull up as much history on the building as possible had been the first to notice she wasn't her normal perky cheerful self. She had been in a daze all day yesterday and today getting worse as the evening went on. She was distracted and made mistakes often ones she never did before.

It worried him seeing her the way she was. He had pushed his worry for her tot he back of his mind till now. "Mai do you think you can try transforming and using your magic against this creature? It's powerful but there is plenty of snow outside and cold you have the advantage of it being winter currently you might be able to at the very least keep it at bay until we can evacuate to safety." Naru asks turning towards her trying to hopefully snap her out of it and focus at the task at hand.

Only when he turned to look at her he discovered she wasn't even looking at him nor was she near the group at all. She had wandered over to the edge of the pool that had been refilled and cleaned up in the recent attempt to get the resort up and running again before the attacks started happening again to the workers resulting in the new owner calling SPR in to investigate. "Mai?" Monk asks moving to give her a shake to try and snap her out if it only to be stopped by a raised hand from Masako.

Mai stood there at the edge of the pool perfectly quiet as she had been all evening. She stood there gazing up at the full moon that hung high in the sky by now. The fat full glowing orb shined directly above the conservatory shinning it's milky light over the surface of the perfectly still water reflecting it back like a mirror. Mai had been constantly stopping and peering up at the moon all last night and all evening today. Something about it seemed to have her transfixed at the mere sight of it.

"Wait." Masako whispers softly as everyone watched Mai. Naru could sense it now. Something was softly flowing around them an energy of sorts just a soft flow and ebb like water. It felt peaceful and safe. Naru knew instinctively that this power they were feeling had always been there and it had been what was affecting Mai. It wasn't dangerous but it did seem to hold some kind of power over Mai.

Mai still gazing up at the moon, moved forward in a trance like state stepping out onto the surface of the water causing Monk, John and Yasuhara to lunge for her to keep her from falling into the water. Naru having figured out that this needed to happen whatever it was and that Mai would be alright held out an arm along with Masako to stop them. "She needs this. It has been calling her all this time. Let her answer the call." Masako says softly her gaze focused on Mai as she continued on walking slowly across the surface of the water as if it were made of glass not even a ripple was made by her bare feet touching the surface.

Mai reached the middle of the pool where the moon reflected on the waters surface. It was there that she finally stopped standing there for a moment in complete silence. _"Luna brumalis."_ she whispered softly her words easy to make out in the dead silence. "What did she say?" Monk asks softly not entirely sure why he was speaking so softly but feeling as if he shouldn't interrupt her in the middle of whatever was happening. "It's Latin what she said roughly translates to Moon of the Winter Solstice." John answers just as softly. "Today is the Winter Solstice." Ayako points out speaking softly like all the others. "It also happens to be a blue moon tonight." Masako adds in as well. "A blue moon falling on the night of the winter solstice what are the odds of that happening?" Monk asks still speaking softly. "OI would tell you the odds but I have the feeling that you didn't mean that as an actual question." Yasuhara answers.

Naru sent them a silencing glare as a soft glow surrounded Mai starting from her transformation pendant. Upon her body being fully surrounded by the light she began to rise in the air slowly. A cool snowy wind surrounded her as she was engulfed in the light her clothes melting away. The light glowed too brightly for Naru to make out anything more then her basic body shape. As the wind danced around her as she hung floating in the air magic waves grew around her pulsating in the air visible to all who were watching.

Mai's wings extended out of her back first just the top curve of each wing seemed to rise out of her back as if her skin were liquid followed by the rest of the length of the arch of the top outside of each wing before her wings extended out freeing the longest feathers and the narrower part that attached into her back. Her wings now free looked the same as always. White being the dominant color on them with blue trimming the edges of each feather. Next her fluffy white fox tail uncurled from along her spine dropping down to curl around her legs. Her white fox ears sprang up from her skull next.

All these things marked the beginning of her transformation under normal circumstances but Naru had the feeling that this time it was different. He was proven right when a smokey gray fabric wrapped around her hips and chest a tail of it hang down in the back of the skirt. Her top appeared halter like but had a tail that hung down the front instead of the back. Gray wrapped around her legs until just above her ankles forming leggings. A pair of gray boots appeared on her feet. Light blue fabric formed ribboned waves that hung down from the top edge of her skirt and top with a paler gray icicle drip of fabric hanging above it. White fur trimmed the edges of her skirt and top as well as her leggings and the tops of her boots. The fur formed a wide collar around her neck starting from a point at the center edge of her top going all the way around her neck forming a hood made out of the same gray fabric as the rest of her clothes with the white fur had a pair of gray fingerless gloves on her hands with white fur trimming the edges around her wrists. Her hair was longer now instead of just barely brushing the tops of her shoulders it came down to her upper middle back and hung in long trendles across the tops of her breasts. Her hair still the light brown with blue and white dyed tips looked the same just longer now still hanging in layered lengths. From the hood a gray cloak of a darker color formed trimmed in white fur just like the rest of her. The cloak stopped just above the bottoms of her boots and hung just over the edges of her shoulders so it didn't cover her entire front. A crown of ice formed on her head along with her pendant forming to hang around her neck.

Mai was slowly lowered back down her feet touching the surface of the water making a ripple appear. Her eyes opened having closed at the beginning of her transformation. They were still the ice blue they had been before but seemed to be filled with magic so much magic it was brimming over. Mai walked across the water towards them. All of them held their breath except Naru who stepped forward and offered her a hand as he was compelled to do. Mai gave a smile meeting his eyes as she took the offered hand her magic washing over him. A similar outfit except for a male appeared on Naru in place of his usual black clothes and a pair of blue black wings stretched from his own back along with a pair of silvery gray black fox ears and tail appearing on him. Something similar had happened before he remembered. When Mai in a desperate situation couldn't handle things on her own called on their connect of being mates or at least him being claimed as her mate to share her magic with him changing how he looked so he was like her.

Mai stepped off the surface of the water and towards the door still holding Naru's hand. With a simple flick of her wrist she sent the doors flying open despite the barricades in front of them and the protections placed on them to seal it shut. The creature stood on the other side of the door snarling at her but it hesitated still instead of flinging itself at them seeming to sense the change in her from before. "You are in my way begone." She says with blasting it with her magic Naru adding in his own share of it. Icicles pierced throw the being causing it to howl in pain as a cold icy wind swirled around it devouring it and all the magic and energy it had cleansing it of it's darkness with a soft warm light that came from the very center of Mai's heart. The creature gave one last gut wrenching howl before disintegrating before their eyes.

Mai released Naru's hand finally stepping forward over the ashes that had once been a monster so horrible it had shut down the hotel resort decades ago. Mai smiled at the spirit of the women who stood there at the end of the hall a look of astonishment on her features. "You can rest in peace now the creature is gone and will never return I'll set a barrier around here to keep any more beings out. Go on to the next realm you no longer have any business left in this one. Rest and sleep in peace." Mai tells her raisng her hand she gave a soft puff of air that sent a spiral of soft snowflakes dancing around the spirit who smiled for the first time since long before her death and slowly faded away into the next realm with Mai's friends Terrance and Zanna to guide her.

They were all packed up and ready to leave the new owner had been informed that he had had a nasty spirit on his hands that was responsible for all the disappearances but was gone now. The lair had been completely filled in now the sub basement no longer existed with the help of one of the twin boys belonging to the alpha of Mai's pack Jen. One of her brothers happened to be the Guardian of Earth and used his powers to fill in the sub basement collapsing the walls and filling it with rock and dirt until there was no sign of it ever having been there except for the bones of those who had gone missing brought to the surface and out of the darkness and into the light once more.

Everyone stood around staring at Mai who was still transformed. Naru had returned to normal shortly after the sun rose into the sky but Mai it appeared wouldn't until the new moon which meant she got to hide while they explained things to the owner. "Okay time to explain what exactly happened back there?" Monk asks arms crossed staring at Mai who shifted uncomfortably. "On certain days when different events intersect we gain a power up you could say. A new level of transformation. We can only access it during certain times under certain conditions until we master it then that becomes our new true form. The night of a Blue Moon that falls on the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of this stage in our life time for us whose magic falls under the power of the Moon. For those whose magic falls under the power of the Sun they gained this ability earlier this year when a Solar Eclipse occurred on the Summer Solstice." Mai explains tugging the hood of her cloak up over her head. It seemed to be her new way of shutting out what she didn't like or what made her feel uncomfortable.

"That's why you were acting so strange you felt the power the event held for you coming and it affected you. You knew it was coming you just didn't or rather couldn't say anything. The sensations were too intense you had to shut everything out in order to retain control of your magic as it tried to over flow." Naru says earning a nod from the hooded Mai to say he was correct in his theory. "You know with this kind of magic now you are going to be rather scary when we get some of the more difficult jobs. Which means we're going to finish them quicker which means a better paycheck which means taking on more cases of a higher level which means more money coming in.I'm liking this new transformation of yours already." Monk comments as they broke up to head to the vans to leave for home. Lin having pointed out that it would be easier to drop everyone else off at their respective places if Monk drove one van with everyone else in it while him and Naru took Mai back to the school plus there was more room in their van that way meaning Mai would have more room for her wings which she was having difficulty keeping folded tight. "Now your just taking advantage of this for your own gain. Ayako argues. "No I'm not more money means Mai can afford her school fees and living costs and other things." Monk argues in return. "She doesn't pay school fees or living costs as it is she lives in the school dorms you idiot." Ayako growls. "This is going to be a long trip." Masako sighs breaking off to head towards Naru's van deciding she would rather put up with the longer trip home and Mai's wings then the two of them arguing.


	6. Chapter 6: By Good Will Alone

Naru walked into the kitchen of his parents house only to stop and stare at the scene before him. The table was covered in baked goods and a large shipping box perched on one corner of it. His mother was pulling a batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven and putting a batch of blueberry muffins in.

He sat down in a vacant chair that wasn't covered in baked goods wondering what the occasion was that required so many baked products and what the box was for. The shipping label on the box stated that the destination was a post office in America. No address just addressed to the Post Master of the United States Post Office in Clay City, Illinois.

That was strange as far as he knew his mother didn't know anyone in America let alone the state of Illinois. He did snitch a cookie off the tray as his mother set them down to cool. She smacked his hand lightly with a tsk . _"None of that now these aren't for you."_ She scolds in English as she turned to clean up the counter now that the last batch of goodies was in the oven.

He ate the cookie anyways watching her as she moved about. _"Who is all this for? You don't know anyone in Illinois."_ He asks vaguely interested. She smiled happily intriguing him more. _"You are right I don't know anyone who lives there but I do know someone who informed me that that would be there next stop."_ She replied as she finished cleaning off the counter and moved on to washing up the dishes.

Before Naru could ask who it was that she knew his father walked in. The older man just shook his head as he watched his wife move around the kitchen happily. _"Your mother met a someone she knew on our last trip to the States and ever since has kept in contact with them and has been sending them care packages for every few stops they make on their trip."_ He explained.

Before Naru could ask anymore questions the phone rang. _"That will be her now she always tries to call right around this time so as not to bother us too much by calling at a bad time."_ His father says with a nod to the clock that read it was five pm. **_"Her?"_** Naru thought with a frown. The one his mother was sending the care packages to was female but the only female he could think of right off the top of his head, that his mother knew was Mai but she was in Japan and in school still.

His mother hurried over to pick up the phone a huge grin on her face. She hit talk and put the phone on speaker so his father and him could hear whoever was on the other end. _"Hello dear how are you doing? Did you reach Missouri alright?"_ She asks rearranging things so she could sit placing the phone in the middle of the table so everyone could hear. Lin walked in at that moment not questioning why the kitchen look like it was a bakery now.

"HALLA!" Three girls could be heard shouting from the other end of the phone followed by giggles. He recognized one of the voices immediately which left him wonder how on earth she managed to get all the over to America before realizing that was a stupid question the girl in question had wings. "Sorry about that, that was just our way of saying hi." Mai could be heard saying through the phone in Japanese.

"And yes, we reached Mexico, Missouri alright. Thanks for the care package by the way in Iowa and for the one here we just got it. We're sitting outside the post office now enjoying the contents of it." She answers pausing apparently to take a bite from something in the package they had received if the noise in the background was anything to go by.

"We are sending you pictures taken from Iowa they should be arriving shortly if Mai's owl friend is on time." Mai's friend Maharu could be heard saying. A tap on the kitchen window had his father moving to pull aside the curtain relieving a large Snowy Owl sitting on the flower box outside the window. His father pulled a piece of meat out of the fridge and opened the window trading the owl the meat for the tube that was around it's neck careful not to get to close to the owl's beak.

The tube was opened and pictures spilled out across the table as his mother began to load some of the items into the package making room for the pictures to be displayed for everyone to see. The owl continued to sit on the window box preening itself ignoring the humans inside the house. All the pictures displayed the three girls or at least some combination of at least two while the third took the photo.

The girls posed around various things including landmarks and buildings some taken with them in a more relaxed setting fooling around with each other one even showed Mai flying in the air from above a small blueish green ribbon below her probably a river. The last photo was of the three girls sitting outside a post office a large box sitting on the ground in front of them each girl was snacking on some kind of baked product.

Mai had a piece of bread with jam on it the jar sitting beside her on the sidewalk, Maharu one of her two friends had a muffin, and her friend Aghea had a biscuit. Someone else had taken the picture judging by the fact that all the girls had their hands full and were all sticky. _"Ohh these pictures are lovely dears!"_ his mother coos ruffling through them so she could see each and every one.

Lin picked up a picture that showed Mai standing in front of what looked like a man-made grotto of some sort fully transformed, and wings spread making her look angelic. On the back of the photo listed where it had been taken "The Grotto Of Redemption" along with a few facts about it such as it being the largest man-made grotto.

Another picture that Naru picked up all three girls were posing in front of a sign to a amusement park called Adventureland this was the first photo to show that all three girls had packs on that seemed to be stuffed full and they all wore sensible clothes for traveling. None were able to drive and all seemed to be hot and sweaty making him wonder how exactly they were getting around the country.

A necklace was mixed in with the photos. It was simple and small just a chain with a tiny little flower pendant. A tag listing the flower as the state flower of Iowa the Wild Prairie Rose was attached to the chain a piece torn off that probably had, had the price on it. "The necklace is for you Mrs. Davis." Mai commented as his mother cooed over it. A small key chain was mixed in as well it had a a small geode in the center with a ring around it stating it as the state rock.

"The key chain is for you Mr. Davis." Aghea put in. A scuffling sound and a soft argument signaled the girls were fighting over something in the package they had received which ended with Mai giving a triumphant noise telling who had won that short fight. "Care to explain to me how and why exactly you three are over in America apparently going cross-country and while your at it care to explain how you ran into my parents?" Naru asks them in Japanese; speaking for the first time since the phone rang informing them of his presence there.

A choking noise came from across the line followed by coughing and a thumping sound as someone hit Mai on the back to keep her from choking on the bit of food she had in her mouth. "Naru? What are you doing there?Wait never mind you'll just say that's a stupid question since the answer is it's your house." She puts in quickly canceling out her question before he could call her out on her stupidity.

He waited for Mai to clear her throat impatient for the answer not that he showed any emotion at all. "We are doing a school project. The project was we had to do something like build something or travel somewhere for a certain length of time but we had to do it under our own power or by the good will of others. We can not rent a car or buy a bus ticket or anything nor can we get a hotel room. We have been flying to each of our destinations along the way and in bad weather we hitchhike."

"For food we earn money by trading work for it or we hunt as well as going to the post office to retrieve the packages your mother sends us. We tell her our next destination and then she sends it to the post office where we collect it upon arriving. We land in the outskirts of town somewhere where we won't be seen and then walk in." Maharu explained next.

"We met your parents in San Diego, California just after we had arrived in the States. We were exhausted after the long flight and it was raining we accidentally ran into your parents, literally, as they were coming out of a restaurant." Aghea adds in a pop sound could be heard as soda cans were opened, his mother was busy placing some in the box at that very moment leading him to figure out what the noise had been.

 _"The poor dears were soaked to the bone and visibly exhausted. I recognized darling Mai right away as one of your friends from Japan. We took them back to our hotel where they got cleaned up and could rest they told us all about their little project for school that had sparked this grand trip of theirs."_ His mother says a pleased smile on her face as she placed the last of the goodies in the box closing it and sealing it up.

Naru stared at his mother for a minute thinking only she would invite a girl and her two friends back to their hotel after only having met her twice before just because the girl was a 'friend' of his. Lin coughed covering his mouth to hide a grin. He shook his head with a sigh focusing on the conversation again. "You girls flew all the way across the ocean from Japan to California?" He asks them with a frown calculating the distance required to make such a trip as well as their normal cruising speed.

"We made stops along the way on various little Islands as well as Hawaii even stopped on sand bars and rock formations." Mai said noise in the back ground suggested the girls were now moving away from the post office where they had been eating their goodies. "Did you sleep at all along the way?" He asks them. "Nope!" All three chorused together. "That explains why they were so exhausted then. That's a very long trip even with stopping to rest as often as they could." Lin murmurs fixing himself a cup of tea.

"Where are you now and were are you heading next?" Naru asks them as his father returned the tube to the owl carefully trying not to get pecked when the owl ruffled it's feathers and gave a screech. "We were just in Iowa and now we are in Mexico, Missouri. Our next stop is Clay City, Illinois with some stops in some surrounding towns. " A decrease in background chatter suggested the girls had moved to a less populated area while Mai was talking.

"And how exactly are you girls getting to all these places without a GPS?" He asks knowing that they didn't follow roads when they flew they seemed to follow their own sense of direction instead. He had yet to figure out how exactly they always seemed to know in which direction to head to go where they wanted to.

"We were shown on a map where each stop was back at the school and we sometimes fly lower so we can spot street signs or rather highway signs and town signs so we can get our bearings as to where we are." "We also have the map with us in case we get lost or turned around like we did in that storm a few days ago." One of the other two put in after Mai was done speaking.

"We do have cell phones you know!" The third one called out through the line. He ignored that little part figuring they weren't relying on their cells so much as their sense of direction which they seemed to find more reliable especially when they were out of range of any cell towers. He had witnessed their sense of direction before on cases in which they had been split up or lost.

"My next question involves the owl." Naru stated calmly. "Oh Crispin was a gift from the school. He is magicked. He can find us anywhere by our magic signatures as well as find any specific destination by tracing a power signature such as the school or your parent's house." Mai says sounding disinterested as her friends picked up a conversation in the background.

Before either he or Lin could ask how exactly the owl who was apparently named Crispin was able to find his parents house if there was no power signature his mother pulled out various souvenirs items they had received from the girls starting with two items from San Diego each had a special shine to them that suggest magic had been attached in small amounts allowing the owl to trace it back to his parents.

"Your project trip is the most insane thing I have ever heard of as well as extremely complicated."He sates shaking his head. "We know!" They answered with a laugh. "That's what makes it fun." Mai says laughter echoing in her voice. _"It's almost six now I had better get this package to the post office before they close otherwise it won't make it in time."_ His mother murmurs placing one last label on the box marking it to be picked up by the three girls.

"We should be heading out to go clean up and get something to eat other then then the contents of that care package. Thanks for that by the way Mrs. Davis." Mai thanked her again as the phone call drew to a close. _"Not a problem dear I can't wait to hear about your time in Missouri when you call again."_ She grabbed her coat off a peg. The owl took off from the window box with a loud screech.

 _"Until next time girls."_ His father says picking up the phone from the now completely clear table. "Until next time." All three said wishing them good bye until their next stop which would be apparently in Clay City, Illinois. The phone was hung up and put back in the cradle as his parents moved about their day once more his mother off to the post office before they closed to mail the package.

His father gathered up the pictures placing them in a photo album that contained various other pictures of the girls from their previous stops. Naru sat there leafing through the album creating a time line and map of where exactly the girls had been along their trip figuring out that they were heading east having started in California and would probably end somewhere along the east coast.

"Those girls have some of the strangest projects for school that I have ever heard of." Lin murmurs sitting down across the table setting up his laptop to get to work while Naru looked at the photos of Mai and her friends all of which showed that deep down they truly seemed to be enjoying their trip.

Naru paused on one picture with Mai kneeling on a glacier a sad look on her face as she watched the glacier flow and melt into the river far below. He closed the album and put it away sliding that last picture into his pocket unnoticed by anyone.


	7. Chapter 7: It's Cold Out There

Naru sighed in relief shutting the door behind Mai as she left the house. The gang had insisted upon a Christmas party at the office and by the time it ended it had started to snow. Mai had stayed behind to help clean up after the party and when they were finally ready to leave the snow had gotten bad making driving tricky. Len wasn't sure if they would be able to make it home through the storm so Mai offered to go with them instead of flying back home herself.

She was able to use her magic to clear the roads directly in front of the van so Len could navigate the roads back to their house. Upon arriving Naru felt obligated to offer her a cup of tea for having gotten them home. So she stayed a bit to drink her tea and talk to him before just now leaving insisting she would be fine flying through the snow it wouldn't bother her too badly and she could always move above the clouds if it got to bad.

Naru settled down on the couch with a book not tired enough to go to sleep yet so he choose to read instead. It was nice and toasty warm inside with the heat on he still didn't fully understand how Mai could be more at home outside in the snow then inside. He still didn't have a full grasp on her powers and they kept evolving and changing so it was hard to keep track of everything.

It was a couple hours later that he heard a sharp rapping on the door. Frowning he looked up wondering briefly if he ignored the noise would go away. Len stuck his head in as the rapping sounded once more. Sighing Naru got up and trudged to the door opening it to see who it was.

To his surprise it was Mai. She stood there on his door step fully transformed in her advance state her fur cloak drawn tight around her to keep out the wind that was blowing harshly and threatening to knock the girl over. When a extra strong just of wind blew her into him he wrapped an arm around her and drew her inside closing the door to shut out the cold.

"Mai?What on earth are you doing back here?I thought you were going home?" He asks her sitting her down on the couch as she shook snow off herself. "I tried to but this storm won't let me. I didn't get very far either and this wind just grew stronger the harder I tried. After crashing for the third time I took a hint and back tracked here." She explains actually giving a shiver.

"You crashed?!" Len asks in surprise and concern moving over with a cup of hot tea for the girl. "Yeah three times. I didn't get far when I crashed the first time into a snow drift luckily. I got up and manged to eventually get back into the air. I got a bit further before crashing again this time into the street which is impossible to drive on now. There were no cars luckily nor any plows." She sipped her tea grateful for something hot for once.

"It took me even longer to get back up into the air again I had to clear as much snow in a long strip as I could and run as fast as I could to try and get into the air before more snow covered my runway. It was really coming down fast by that point making it insanely difficult to see let alone fly. I tried to get above the clouds but the snow was weighing down my wings making it hard to move them. No matter how many times I shook the snow off them." She rustled her wings glancing over her shoulder as if to ensure they were no longer covered in the heavy snow that had made it impossible for her to fly.

"My wings started to freeze up by then my muscles not wanting to move I was getting cold and my wings hurt so I stopped and transformed using my powerup transformation since my clothes are warmer like that. It worked somewhat I was able to get higher and further along like that but I was still a long ways away from the school or any of my friends houses. It was then that I crashed again." Naru and Len listened on in horror as she described her fight to get home they knew it was bad when she got cold and her muscles froze because of it. She was normally perfectly at home in the cold but not tonight.

"I was trying to fight my way through the clouds but they were so thick and heavy. Filled with so much snow I couldn't get through them. My wings froze up while I was part way through a cloud and I started to fall I couldn't get my wings to work at all I barely manged to get them tucked in before I crashed. I wasn't so lucky that time. I hit some trees crashing through some woods getting scratched up by the branches before I hit the ground." She removed her cloak so they could see that her shoulders and arm were covered in scratches from the tree branches as she had fallen.

Len went to go get the first aid kit to treat her wounds while she continued on with her story. "I chose to turn around by then shifting into my fox form to get out of the woods before shifting back and trying to fly again this time low. I crashed several more times before giving up and shifting back into my fox form again deciding that it was better to take it more slow on the ground then risk crashing again. I finally made it back here though. And I don't think I'm going to be going anywhere anytime soon that storm doesn't want me to. I can't get a hold of any of my friends either. So I'm kind of stuck here in the mean time until this storm subsides enough for me to make it home."

She finished telling her tale as Len finished dabbing at her wounds with alcohol. "Thank you." She says with a grateful smile to the man who simply nodded as he went to put away the kit. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience I'm causing you if the storm lets up sometime soon I''l head back out I don't mean to cause you trouble." She says giving a bow to him.

"Don't be stupid." He growls at her feeling awkward and frustrated with her for being stupid enough to keep trying to get home through this bad of a storm when she kept crashing. She was hurt and covered in wounds because of her own stupidity and because he didn't insist she stay the night like he should have.

It was freezing outside and storming pretty bad but he had let her leave anyways and now look at her. Sitting there huddle up under her cloak which she had put back on nursing a cup of tea or what was left of it anyways. She looked cold and miserable as well as in pain from her wounds.

He felt guilty for letting her leave like that and for not making her stay here with him where it was safe and where he could make sure she didn't get hurt. He hated seeing her bleed. Knowing she had gotten hurt upset him but knowing she got hurt and he could have prevented it tore him up inside.

"You aren't trouble or a burden or anything your the one who got me and Len home without crashing ourselves its not that big of a deal for you to stay the night. And you will stay the night not just wait for the storm to let up. You can sleep on the couch we'll produce some extra pillows and blankets for you so you'll be comfortable. And more tea." He says firmly taking her now empty cup and going to refill it.

Mai blinked shocked by Naru's tone of voice and the way he was acting it was almost ...nurturing in someways almost as if he was caring for his girlfriend. She had to be dreaming. That's it she was lying passed out in the snow somewhere after crashing again and was dreaming. But ohh what a fabulous dream it was. "If I am dreaming please don't wake me up." She murmurs

This drew a slight chuckle out of Len who brought her some blankets and pillows for her. "He's worried about you. Although he isn't happy about it he is worried. He worries a lot about you in particular and the risks you take." He tells her with a smile. "Len that's enough not another word out of you." Naru says sharply coming over with a mug of what turned out to be hot chocolate.

Mai breathed in the delicious scent before downing the rich chocolaty liquid nearly scalding her tongue in the process. "I thought you only drank tea?" She asks when she had finished the cup of coco. He took her mug from her turning his head away with a muttered "You said you liked hot chocolate better then tea the last time you were here so."

Mai couldn't help but giggle noting that his ears were red meaning he was blushing. The last time she had been over which had been when she had fallen ill during a case and brought here afterwards she discovered several things about Naru like how he liked to decorate his bare looking room with pictures of his parents and Gene as well as pictures of the gang taken during various cases. What surprised her most was he had all kinds of shots of her and her alone.

She had been secretly thrilled to know he collected pictures of her that she had the feeling her friends were providing him with. She also discovered that when he blushed which he rarely did he turned his head away so she couldn't see but she could still see his ears and they were always red. She still thought it was rather cute.

"Thank you." She says deciding to work up the courage like she did the last time and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for everything." She says trying not to blush herself as Naru took her mug to refill it again while she set up the couch to sleep on. She gave him a grateful smile when he came back with her refilled mug curling up on the sofa with it savoring the richness of it. "Night." He says somewhat awkwardly his ears still red.

"Night Naru. Night Len." She calls as her mate left the room shutting out the light as he left. She finished her cocoa and settled down under the blankets her cloak wrapped around her still. She was tired and exhuasted from trying to get home in the storm and was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. She silently thanked her friend Cameron Guardian of Storms for the storm that let her stay the night at Naru's place. Even if Cam had nothing to do with it.


End file.
